Display stand



Oct. 6, 1964 w. PATTERSON DISPLAY STAND 2 SheetsS'neet 1 Original Filed June 19, 1959 NVENTOR. ([141 1954 L. w. PATTERSON 3,151,744

DISPLAY STAND Original Filed June 19, 1959 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. lAwef/va'ldmzesozv United States Patent 3,151,744 DISPLAY STAND Lawrence W. Patterson, Santa Ana, Califi, assignor to Vita-Pakt Citrus Products Co., Covina, Calii, a corporation of California Continuation of application Ser. No. 821,464, lune 19, 1959. This application Jan. 30, 1961, Ser. No. 85,918 8 Claims. (Cl. 211-49) My invention relates to display stands and more particularly relates to display stands provided with illumination for directing light upon advertising matter and/ or upon merchandise displayed upon the stand.

It is an axiom of modern merchandising that the most effective mechanical salesmanship is that which places the goods at the finger-tips of the customer, ready to be picked up and carried away, and which tells the story of the goods by printed word or picture at eye-level, where the customer can hardly fail to see it. As a part of making goods accessible to the customer, it is important that the goods shall not be screened, that the buyer shall not be required to move any object in order to gain access to the goods. A display stand providing ready access to merchandise is shown in my Patent 2,637,445, which discloses separator trays which spring up when divested of merchandise and uncover the merchandise on the next lower tray.

It will be appreciated that a prime use of such display stands occurs in grocery stores, particularly in the modern development of grocery merchandising known as supermarkets. However, the goods on sale in a supermarket are often changed in location, from one section or one aisle to another aisle or section, according to the availability of space, the volume of expected sales, and the nature of the advertising. A market may possess quite a number of special display stands, some of them in reserve, some of them filled with merchandise, and some of them being moved to points in the market where special sales are about to be put on. It is accordingly highly desirable that display stands be made in units which may be combined, divided, added to, or subtracted from, and taken apart for compact storage when not in use.

In the display stand constituting the preferred embodiment of my present invention I have provided a stand made in separable sections, giving a wide choice in the amount of horizontal space devoted to any particular display. The shelves or trays are adjustable in height, so that a choice in vertical spacing is also available. Lighting fixtures are incorporated which also present a choice, which may be correlated with the horizontal spacing. The means for connecting and bracing these separable units in a stand of a selected size are believed novel in themselves and they also provide a novel and desirable selectivity without encroaching upon the principles set down hereinbefore for good merchandising.

It is an object of my invention to provide a display stand having trays capable of swinging up when devoid of merchandise which is so constructed as to be diminishable in size or to be enlarged to the limits of available space.

Another object is to provide a display stand unit with adjustable trays and with integral unit lights and advertising space, for displaying a single product on each unit, said units being easily combined to make either a larger display of the single product or a display of many products.

A further object of my invention is to provide a display stand separable into lesser units but so strongly put together that it may easily be transported as a large unit.

Still another object of my invention is to provide an illuminable display stand separable into small units each of which continues to have full facilities for illumination and for advertising.

3,15ifl44 Fatented Get. 6, 1964 Another object of my invention is to provide a display stand of separable units which when joined in one large stand render mutual support to one another.

In the accompanying drawing illustrative of one embodiment of my invention, but not intended as a limitation thereof, FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing my improved display stand as it might appear in process of being put together or taken apart, with some sections provided with folding shelves and others not so provided, and with various sizes of illuminable displays;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical section on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1, showing details of one of the illuminable advertising displays;

FIG. 3 is a further enlarged fragmentary perspective view, showing how adjacent illuminable displays are aligned and connected;

FIG. 4 is an enlargement of details shown at the top of FIG. 2, illustrating the manner of connecting a frame to an illuminable transparency;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a part shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 66 of FIG. 1, showing the adjustable mounting of a hinge bracket for a swinging tray;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of a corner of one of the swinging trays, showing its suspension on a hinge bracket;

FIG. 7A is a perspective view of the hinge bracket;

FIG. 8 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 38 of FIG. 1, illustrating the adjustable attachment of a diagonal brace to an upright member;

FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 are views partly in section illustrating the attachment of a diagonal brace to the gondola;

FIG. 12 is a sectional View on the line 12-12 of FIG. 2, showing a clamp for adjusting the height of an illuminating casement upon one of the upright members; and

FIG. 13 shows means for clamping two upright members to each other.

Having reference now to the details of the drawing, I have shown in FIG. 1 a display stand comprising a plurality of units contiguously united in one larger unit, three bases 15, 16 and 17 being shown, and three overhead advertising transparencies 18, 19 and 29. It will be observed at once that the bases 15, 16 and 17 are of different sizes, the central base 16 being the smallest, while the transparencies 18, 19 and 26) are also of difierent sizes, the central transparency 19 being the largest. It is to be understood that the varying sizes depicted in FIG. 1 are for illustrative purposes only; the bases may all be the same size or of different sizes in a different order; and likewise the transparencies. The object is to effect combinations most suitable to the merchandise; and merchandise, of course, has infinite variations.

From the back of the bases 15, 16 and 17 there arise upright support members 21, 21, 21, preferably of channel form as shown, for example, in FIGS. 6, 7 and 13, and having the openings 22 of their channels 23 partly restricted by opposed flanges 24. The support members 21 are placed at the rearward corners of the bases 15, 16, 17 with the channel openings 22 of the support members of a given base opening toward one another. Thus the support members 21 at contiguous rearward corners of the bases 15 and 16 are shown in FIG. 6 as having their openings 22 turned away from one another, they being on different bases, and the same is true of the channels 21 shown in FIG. 13. When two or more units are to be combined the adjacent corner support members 21 are held together by a clip 25 (FIG. 13). The clip 25 has indentations 26 which fit into the channel openings 22 and has end tabs 27 which may be attached by screws 28 to back-boards Z9.

Swinging trays 34) are suspended from the upright supports 21 by hinge brackets 32. In FIG. 1 only the lefthand unit is shown provided with trays 30, and those are shown filled with merchandise, such as packaged bottles 33. The uppermost tray 302 may be hinged across its center so that when swung upward it will fold so as not to interfere with lights and advertising matter at the top of the unit. The hinge brackets 32 are more particularly shown in FIGS. 6 and-7, and are of a reversible form so that they may serve equally well at either the right or the left of a tray 30. They are also adjustable in height, and are easily removable, so that if it is desired to display bulk goods not suited for display on trays, the trays may be omitted as shown by way of example in the center and right units of FIG. 1.

Each of the hinge brackets 32 comprises a plate 34 bent to form a wide shallow channel 35 and a narrow deeper channel 36, the two channels being faced oppositely and having one wall in common. The portion of the plate 34 forming the channel 35 is adapted to bridge across an upright support 21. The plate 34 contains three holes 38, 39 and 40, and also has two ears 41 and 42 punched in it. The holes 38 and 39 may selectively be used to receive a single bolt 43 which engages an elongated nut 44 within the channel 23. The nut 44 is longer than the width of the channel 23 and so can not turn in the channel, but clamps against the flanges 24 and holds the bracket 32 adjustably on the support 21. The hole receives the hinge rod 45 of the tray 30, the rod 45 extending through the hole and into the channel 23. The channel opening 22 permits either end of the rod to be lifted and removed, if it be desired to remove a tray.

The ears 41 and 42 of each bracket 32 are dual so that in either left or right hand position of a hinge bracket 32, one of the cars will be below the respective hinge rod 45 and thus be in position to retain one end of a spring 46 respective to each tray 30. The spring 46 is coiled upon the hinge rod 45 and its other end is extended under a margin of the tray 30, for causing the tray to swing upwardly when imposed weight has been removed. The other of the ears 41 and 42 will be above the hinge rod 45 and will form a pocket into which an arm 47, connecting the hinge rod 45 and the tray 30, may be swung upwardly. Thus the dual ears 41 and 42 reverse their functions of spring purchase point and arm stop when a bracket 32 is shifted from left to right.

The outer walls of the narrow channels 36 have holes 48 threaded to receive bolts 49 by which back board panels 29 may be clamped. This arrangement permits simultaneous adjustment in height of a tray 34) and an associated back board panel 29 which may carry advertising matter concerning the merchandise on the tray, or if two panels 29 are secured by screws 28 to a clip 25, both may be moved at the same time as a tray.

Thetrays 30 are preferably of spaced Wires 50 welded to heavy rim wire 51. The rim wires pass through notches 52 in the arms 47 to the outside of the arms 47, to which they are welded. The arms 47 are at angles to the rim wires 51, inclining downward from the hinge rods 45 when the trays 30 are horizontal. The rear corners 53 of the rim wires 51 outside the arms 47 are swung arcuately, when the trays 30 swing downwardly, so that they come in contact with the upper and lower ends of the hinge brackets 32 and thus become shoulders limiting the downward swing of the trays. Bearing against the notches I 52, the rim wires 51 transmit the shock of stopping directly to the arms 47.

As the weight on the trays may be considerable and as the trays may swing up with some force, it is preferable to have the corners swing against the reinforcement afforded by the brackets 32, rather than against the bare upright supports 21. Due to their position below the hinge rods 45, the corners 53 may swing about 45 degrees below and 45 degrees above the horizontal, causing the trays to swing between limits at the horizontal and the vertical. The elevated hinge rods 45 (with reference to the horizontal trays) also provide back-bars to prevent articles of merchandise from being pushed back against the back-boards 29. It will be realized that an article pushed against a back-board 29 would exert practically no leverage to hold the tray horizontal, and the tray might easily swing up while still occupied by merchandise, thereby damaging eitherthe. merchandise or the display stand.

As noted hereinabove the weight on the trays 30 may be considerable and hence there will be appreciable downward force applied by the trays to the brackets 32. It is desirable to have the weight of each tray and the articles thereon effect canting of the brackets 32 relative to their respective support members 21 to thereby assist the bolts 43 and nuts 44 in restrainingdownward movement of the brackets with respect to their support members. This is accomplished by the attachment of the hinge rods at the intermediate portion of the brackets 32 and the positioning of the trays 30 below the hinge rods, with the tray rear corners 53 abutting the lower portion of the brackets, as indicated in FIG. 7. Referring to this figure, it will be apparent that the aforedescribed arrangement cants the lower portion of the brackets 32 rearwardly relative to the support members 21.

At the top of the upright supports 21 are lights 55 which provide illumination for the transparencies 18, 19, 20 and also shine a portion of their light downward upon the merchandise below and upon advertising matter placed upon the backboards 29. The lights 55 are preferably tubular fluorescent lamps and are carried in encasements 56. The encasements 56 are three-sided members, with upwardly and downwardly diverging top walls 57 and bottom walls 58 and with back walls 59 to which are welded channel members 60 shaped likethe upright support members 21, of which the members 60 are, in fact, continuations. Angle braces61, punched from the back wall 59, are welded to the channel members 60, covering the opening of the channels in the. members 60. I-bars 62 inserted in the channel members 60 are clamped therein by bolts 63 threaded in holes 64 in the angle braces 61. Thus the encasements 56 can be adjusted upon the I-bars, with the I-bars extending below the channel members 60 into the upright support members 21. Any set screw or other like obstruction (not shown) in the support members 21 can limit the penetration of the channel members 60 into the support members. The bottom walls 58 have a plurality of holes 65 through which illumination from the lights 55 shines downward upon the trays 30 and rearwardly upon the backboard 29.

The lights 55 are mounted on supports 66 which have flanges 67. The back walls 59 are divided into top and bottom sections, each section having a marginal channel 68 or 69 which slidably engages the flanges 67 Thus the lights 55 may be quickly removed and replaced in the encasements 56, for instance if it be desired to use a light of a particular color.

On the front of the encasements 56 are picture frames 70, for holding the transparencies 18, 19 and 20. The top wall 57 and bottom wall 58 of each encasement 56 have outwardly flaring flanges 71 and 72, recurvate to provide a certain amount of springiness in their walls. The frames 70'also have rearwardly opening channels 73 and 74 on their upper and lower inner margins and 76. The wall flanges 71 and 72 are interlocked with the frame channels 73 and 74 by means of fittings 77shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The fittings 77 have channels 78 into which the flanges 71 and 72 fit, and have recurvate flanges 79 which fit into thechannels 73 and 74. Thewalls 80 of the channels 78, which are pressed outwardly by the wall flanges 71 and 72, press the transparencies 18,. 19 and 20 against the inner marginsrof the frames 70.. Because of the springiness of the encasements 56,'the frames 70, and especially of the fittings 77, the frames 70 may be snapped on and off the interlocking fittings 77, and the pressure-held transparencies may be changed in an instant.

The forwardly overhanging encasements 56 and frames 70 provide a burden on the upright support members 21 which could easily force the transparencies 18, 19 and 20 out of alignment, and because of the illumination provided by the lamps 55, such misalignment might be very noticeable. The walls 57 and 58 are therefore provided with punched-out guides 81. Rods 82, sliding in the guides 81 of adjacent stand units or sections, connect the units or sections which thus render mutual support to one another and maintain the optical illusion of one large unit.

However, because of the weight of loaded trays 30, and to connect together the lower parts of adjacent units or sections of the display stand, it is also desirable to provide diagonal braces 84 connecting the bases or gondolas 15, 16, 17 to the upright support members 21. The connection to the members 21 is preferably made just below the back-boards 29, so that the back-boards remain fully visible. As the back-boards 29 are secured to the hinge brackets 32 and are adjustable with the trays 30, it becomes desirable to have the braces 84 adjustably secured to the upright members 21, or at least quickly detachable therefrom. Accordingly, the braces 84 are pivotally secured at their upper end by bolts 85 to Z-fittings 86 which in turn are secured to the upright members 21 by the same type of elongated nut 44 and bolt 43 described herein in connection with the adjustment of the hingebrackets 32, the nuts 44 being slidable within the channels 23. At the bottom of the braces 84 are double tongues 87, having notches 88 and 89 on their forward and rearward edges. The double tongues 87 may be inserted in adjacent slots 90 in the bases 15, 16, 17, as shown in FIG. 9, to hold the bases together, or one tongue may be inserted in such a slot in an end base, and the other tongue may overhang the side of the base. Inserting the tongue 87 nearly upright as shown in FIG. 11, and then tilting the brace 84 as shown in FIG. locks the brace 84 in the base. The upper end of the brace 84 may then be secured to the upright 21 as shown in FIG. 8.

It will be seen from the foregoing that my improved stand is capable of being made larger or smaller and also of being constructed of mixed sections of difierent sizes. Furthermore, the individual trays and the back-boards for advertising are adjustable in height to accommodate many varieties of merchandise and to keep the advertising matter where it will be most effective. The lighting system is likewise adjustable, to shine on advertising and merchandise. And the whole structure, of a plurality of units, is so braced and steadied that it gives the appearance of a single sturdy unit.

This is a continuation of my patent application Serial No. 821,464, filed June 19, 1959 for Illuminated Display Stand, now abandoned.

The disclosed embodiment is not to be construed as a limitation upon my invention, the scope of which is deemed to include any desirable constructive modification within the spirit and breadth of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a display stand having a tray maintainable generally horizontally by the weight of articles upon said tray and biased to swing upwardly when the weight of said articles has been removed, the combination of: a pair of generally upright support members; a horizontal hinge rod upon which said tray is pivoted, said rod being above said tray when the latter is in a generally horizontal position; bracket means vertically slidably carried by said support members, the intermediate portion of said bracket means receiving the ends of said hinge rod; clamp means carried by each said bracket means and engageable with said support members to adjust the vertical position of said bracket means relative to said support members; and abutment means on said tray below said hinge rod to transfer the weight of said tray and articles thereon to said support members and maintain said tray in its generally 6 horizontal position, with the weight of said tray and arti cles thereon effecting canting of said brackets upon said support members to assist said clamp means in restraining downward movement of said brackets relative to said support members.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said clamp means includes a bolt threadedly carried by said bracket means and a nut engaged by said bolt to move said nut into frictional abutment with said support member.

3. A display stand for supporting articles adapted to be removed therefrom, comprising: a support including a pair of generally upright support members; a tray disposable in a generally horizontal position for holding said articles; a horizontal hinge rod upon which said tray is pivoted, said rod being above said tray when the latter is in a generally horizontal position; spring means on said hinge rod and connected to said tray to urge the free end of said tray upwardly when the weight of said articles has been removed therefrom; bracket means vertically slidably carried by said support members, the intermediate portion of said bracket means receiving the ends of said hinge rod; clamp means carried by said bracket means and engageable with said support members to adjust the vertical position of said bracket means relative to said support members; and abutment means on said tray below said hinge rod to transfer the weight of said tray and articles thereon to said support members and maintain said tray in its generally horizontal position, with the weight of said tray and articles thereon elfecting canting of said brackets upon said support members to assist said clamp means in restraining downward movement of said brackets relative to said support members.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said clamp means includes a bolt threadedly carried by said bracket means and a nut engaged by said bolt to move said nut into frictional abutment with said support member.

5. In a display stand having a tray maintainable generally horizontally by the weight of articles upon said tray and biased to swing upwardly when the weight of said articles has been removed, the combination of: a pair of generally upright support members each having a vertical channel opening and opposed flanges restrictive of the opening of said channel; a horizontal hinge rod upon which said tray is pivoted, said rod being above said tray when the latter is in a generally horizontal position; a pair of brackets each vertically slidably carried by one of said support members, the intermediate portion of said brackets supporting the ends of said hinge rod; clamp means carried by said brackets and extending through said flange into said channels for adjusting the vertical position of said brackets relative to said support members; and abutment means on said tray below said hinge rod to transfer the weight of said tray and articles thereon to said support members and maintain said tray in its generally horizontal position, with the Weight of said tray and articles thereon effecting canting of said brackets upon said support members to assist said clamp means in restraining downward movement of said brackets relative to said support members.

6. The combination of claim 5 wherein each said clamp includes a bolt threadedly secured to its bracket and extending through the opening in its respective support member, said bolt engaging a nut member disposed within said support member to urge said nut member into frictional abutment with said support member.

7. A display stand for supporting articles adapted to be removed therefrom, comprising: a pair of generally upright support members each having a vertical channel opening and opposed flanges restrictive of the opening of said channel; a tray disposable in a generally horizontal position for holding said articles; a horizontal hinge rod upon which said tray is pivoted, said rod being above said tray when the latter is in a generally horizontal position; spring means on said hingerod and connected to said tray to urge the free end of said tray upwardly when the weightof said articles has been removed therefrom; a pair of brackets each vertically slidably carried by one of said support members, the intermediate portion of said brackets supporting the ends of said hinge rod; clamp means carried by said brackets and extending through said flange into said channels for adjusting the vertical position of said brackets relative tosaid support members; and abutment means on said said tray and articles thereon to said support members and maintain said tray in its generally horizontal position, with the weight of said tray and articles thereon eifecting canting of said brackets upon said support members to assist said clamp means in restraining downward move-v 10 tray below said hinge rod to transfer the weight of.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Vance Mar. 3, 1931 Hopkins Feb. 18, 1941. Goldman Mar. 23, 1943, Kurtzon Oct. 2, 1951 Patterson. May 5, 1953' Attwood Apr..6, 1954 Prevette Aug. 30, 1955 Shnitzler Feb. 21, 1956 Parke May 8, 1956 Crowther V.. JunelO, 19,58 Mapson Oct. 6, 1959 Patterson Oct. 13, 1959 Patterson Oct. 13, 1959 Abrams Mar. 15, 1960 Weiss Feb. 14, 1961 Shiels May 2, 1961 Pendergrast July 18, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS Australia of 1949 Australia of 1953 

1. IN A DISPLAY STAND HAVING A TRAY MAINTAINABLE GENERALLY HORIZONTALLY BY THE WEIGHT OF ARTICLES UPON SAID TRAY AND BIASED TO SWING UPWARDLY WHEN THE WEIGHT OF SAID ARTICLES HAS BEEN REMOVED, THE COMBINATION OF: A PAIR OF GENERALLY UPRIGHT SUPPORT MEMBERS; A HORIZONTAL HINGE ROD UPON WHICH SAID TRAY IS PIVOTED, SAID ROD BEING ABOVE SAID TRAY WHEN THE LATTER IS IN A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL POSITION; BRACKET MEANS VERTICALLY SLIDABLY CARRIED BY SAID SUPPORT MEMBERS, THE INTERMEDIATE PORTION OF SAID BRACKET MEANS RECEIVING THE ENDS OF SAID HINGE ROD; CLAMP MEANS CARRIED BY EACH SAID BRACKET MEANS AND ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID SUPPORT MEMBERS TO ADJUST THE VERTICAL POSITION OF SAID BRACKET MEANS RELATIVE TO SAID SUPPORT MEMBERS; AND ABUTMENT MEANS ON SAID TRAY BELOW SAID HINGE ROD TO TRANSFER THE WEIGHT OF SAID TRAY AND ARTICLES THEREON TO SAID SUPPORT MEMBERS AND MAINTAIN SAID TRAY IN ITS GENERALLY HORIZONTAL POSITION, WITH THE WEIGHT OF SAID TRAY AND ARTICLES THEREON EFFECTING CANTING OF SAID BRACKETS UPON SAID SUPPORT MEMBERS TO ASSIST SAID CLAMP MEANS IN RESTRAINING DOWNWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID BRACKETS RELATIVE TO SAID SUPPORT MEMBERS. 